Letter from Michelle Alexander

Mass Freedom builds upon decades of work and visionary thinking by activists in the movements to end mass incarceration and mass deportation, and inspired by conversations with Michelle Alexander, award-winning author of the critically acclaimed book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

LETTER FROM MICHELLE ALEXANDER, AUTHOR OF THE NEW JIM CROW

I am thrilled to express my support for Mass Freedom. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that the movements to end mass incarceration and mass deportation are not separate struggles organized around distinct issues, although they are often described and experienced in that way. Instead, they are expressions of a larger, transformative — even revolutionary — movement that seeks to reimagine our democracy.

Mass Freedom seeks to support that larger movement. It aims to help us better understand how colonialism, the slave trade, and global capitalism have brought us to this moment in time. It shares the stories of people of all colors and nationalities who yearn to be free and helps us to see that many of the struggles that feel distant are actually inextricably linked to our own. Our nation faces an existential crisis in the era of Trump, and yet we also have a unique opportunity to rebirth our democracy in a manner that truly honors all of us. Racism, patriarchy, violence, greed, and systems of racial and social control continue to morph and reemerge in new forms. But we cannot be deterred by the forces that seek to hold us back. An inclusive, multiracial, multiethnic democracy that honors the dignity and value of all of us is not beyond our reach. Inspired by courageous struggles for human rights and justice around the world and the sacrifices of those who have gone before us, Mass Freedom aims to help us rise to the challenges we face.

Thank you to all those who have worked hard to create Mass Freedom. By learning from our history and facing our future with open hearts, open minds, determination and courage, we can make America what it must become.